Thursday, March 20, 2008

Holi Hai !!! - Celebrate Holi With Natural Colors

It is said that Lord Krishna used play Holi with bright-orange Tesu flowers. Earlier, many people used to make natural colours for Holi at home. Today, most people might not be aware of this fact as we are used to ready made chemical colors. Often these chemical colours are harmful and we tend ignore it during the fun. But if you have time, then you can make your own natural colours at home.

Wet Red Colour: Mix turmeric powder in water and add few drops of lemon juice. within seconds, you will get bright red colour.

Dry Yellow Colour: Mix two spoons of turmeric powder with four spoons of besan for bright yellow color.

Wet Yellow Colour: Mix Two spoons of turmeric in four liters of water and stir well.

Wet Orange or Saffron Colour: Peel around 12 large onions and boil in half liter water. Remove the onion peels. Now you will get an orange color with a light pink shade. Another method is to soak Tesu flowers in water for a night to get yellowish – orange color.

Dry Green Colour: Make a paste out of different leaves like spinach, coriander, mint etc in water and leave it to dry. Another method is to mix mehndi and any flour.

Wet Green Colour: Take four spoons of henna and mix in two liter of water.

Wet Magenta Colour: Grate beetroot and soak in one liter water for magenta colour.

Wet Brown Colour: Boil tea or coffee in water and cool it.

If you are planning to play large scale Holi, then it is better to buy genuine natural colors from the market. This is because there is a limit to which you can produce natural Holi colours at home. There are more methods of making natural colours but it involves large scale use of flowers which are sadly not available in large quantities.

Where To Buy Natural Holi Colours :

Holi is fast approaching and thanks to the rigorous campaign carried out by NGOs and other environment organizations there is awareness in India among general public regarding natural Holi colors. But many people are notaware from where to buy natural Holi colors. eCoexist a Pune-based social enterprise dealing in natural and recycled products in India, is promoting a range of natural colours under the name Rang Dulaar. Natural Holi colors from eCoexist are available in select stores in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Baroda, Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Goa, Ahmedabad and Aurangabad.

eCoexist is currently offering Red, Yellow, Green and Black colors. eCoexist says that colours are free from any chemical content and have been made by the women of Vanastree, the Malnad Forest Garden and Seed Keepers Collective in collaboration with the Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group.

To order the colours or for further inquiries write to ecoexist@gmail.com or call 9850084383Stores from where you can buy Holi natural colors promoted by eCoexist for Holi 2008. Information as found on eCoexist.